Pile fabrics formed by flocking or other methods are frequently embossed to form a wide range of surface patterns and textures. Known methods for embossing a pile fabric include running the fabric through one or more cylinders bearing an engraved pattern thereon and subjecting the pile surface of the fabric to selective amounts of heat and pressure for selected periods of time in order to form depressed regions within the pile fabric corresponding to the engraved pattern on the cylinders. Another common method of embossing pile fabrics is through the use of air embossing equipment. Air embossing involves passing a pile fabric, while an adhesive to which the pile is adhered is still uncured, under one or more air streams and subsequently curing the adhesive. In typical methods for air embossing, the fabric is air embossed by passing the fabric under a cylinder including a plurality of apertures therein, and applying a pressurized air flow to an inside surface of the cylinder so that the air flows through the apertures in the cylinder, impinges upon the pile layer of the fabric, and forms depressions therein, which depressions are made permanent upon subsequent curing of the adhesive.
Printing and/or dyeing of fabrics, including pile fabrics, is also known in the art. Such prior art methods include submerging the fabrics in dye solutions, screen printing techniques, such as rotary screen printing, and transfer paper printing techniques, typically involving applying a surface of a printed transfer paper to a surface of a fabric and using heat and pressure to transfer a printed pattern from the transfer paper to the surface of the fabric. In typical prior art methods for forming pile fabrics, textured patterns and printed patterns are typically either not simultaneous present on a given fabric, or are essentially independent from each other and uncoordinated in appearance. Typical prior art pile fabrics include embossed and/or printed patterns that are typically characterized by essentially regular geometric shapes and features presenting an essentially uniformly appearing repeating pattern to the eye of the observer. Such prior art fabrics, and their methods of manufacture, while useful for many purposes, such as for upholstery, certain items of clothing (especially indoor clothing), etc., are not well suited for applications requiring fabrics which allow a wearer thereof, or an object covered therewith, to blend into a natural environment, and such prior art fabrics are not well suited for realistically depicting a printed scene or illustration.
There remains a need in the art to provide textured and printed flocked pile fabrics providing embossed and printed patterns thereon more realistically simulating a scene or illustration, for example a natural sylvan scene or illustration. The present invention provides textured and printed flocked pile fabrics, and methods for producing such fabrics, providing a more realistic visual effect or simulation of printed scenes or illustrations, which are especially useful in the context of camouflage or other fabrics for outdoor use and apparel.